I read a great blog post about contrapposto and the art of taking more flattering outfit photographs. Time is really tight for me these days, but I would like to improve my photos too. I'm a hobbyist photographer, and it really bothers me that I have trouble taking good pictures of myself, especially when I do it every day. It's not the camera, it's me; I am not posing in postive ways. Using a few of the tips in that blog should help.
That's what I did in today's shot: the cross-legged stance was deliberate, and much more flattering than the side leg view that works better with pants. See?
George, though, is an excellent poser. I should take tips from him.
Look at how perfectly his little white paws are lined up! He did that on purpose, too; he saw me grab my camera while he was playing with his stuffed cow, and he abandoned it to get up and stand exactly like that. He does it every time he sees me aiming my camera at him. What a ham!!
Anyway, back to the clothes. This is my Daisy Fuentes kickass Kohl's dress; you guys know how much I love layering dresses, but this time I took an idea from Angie and layered only underneath the dress. Since it was an office day, I added brown Vera Wang leggings and my Me Too brown patent snakeskin flats. If it had been a little cooler, I might have swapped in my tan Aquatalia mid-calf boots, or if I had had a meeting outside, I would have gone with tights and Franco Sarto oxford booties. In other words, expect to see those combos too someday.
The jewelry was a combo of my two favorite gold necklaces. My pal Jessie really liked the gold-and-yellow stone one. I honestly love both of these so much I can never decide which to wear. I elected not to make the choice at all for this outfit.
Lastly, the top underneath is a fantastic LOFT long-sleeved tee that is hands-down my favorite tee style of the season. It's soft, doesn't wrinkle in the wash, the neckline is just high enough not to show off cleavage, and the sizing is perfect so it doesn't pull across the chest. LOFT is having a sale on them, 2 for $30, this weekend. I just picked up a bunch more in other colors. Check 'em out!
I love the colors in that dress. Your cat is much better behaved than my cats...if I aim the camera at them they either come up and try to sniff the lens, or chew on the dangling lens cap.
ReplyDeleteI thought those posts were pretty fascinating! I could never figure out why some of my photos of outfits just weren't that flattering even if I thought the outfits were.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the leggings with this dress and am thinking I need to try giving leggings another shot. And, I should totally check out those tees at the LOFT. Who doesn't need better tees?
George cracks me up! What a cat. Love that he knows what a camera is for!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the posing tips - will check out her blog.
Ooh, wonderful. I may have to head to the Loft and scope out those tees. They are so great for layering, whether strategically like you are under this dress, or simply for staying warm!
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking to the posting tips. As you can tell, I have just about one standard pose that I *always* end up using just out of habit and lack of time to run back and forth between the camera and see if I hate the way I look in other poses. The post that you linked to definitely explains why I'm unhappy about some of the photos I take even though the outfit looks good to my eyes.
I'm also a hobby photographer, but VERY much on the amateur end, and I don't have a proper DSLR camera. However, I'm often unhappy with the lighting in my indoor photos, and wish that I could get them to come out better. Part of the problem is that I have those darn energy efficient lightbulbs that don't give off much light, and I take my outfit photos when it's dark before I head to work. :(
Steph's post is excellent (and not just because I'm in it, hee hee). Posing is so much harder than it seems!
ReplyDeleteGeorge looks lovely. How much do I love his white boots?